Albert t



A. T. VAN ALSTYN. GARMENT SUPPORTER. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 11. 1913.

Patented June 3, 1919.

PATENT oFFioE.

ALBERT '1. VAN ALS'IYN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

g j w A GAR-MENT-SUPPORTER.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, ALBERT T. VAN AL- STYN,a citizen of the United States, residing in New York city, in the countyof New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Garment- Supporters, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to garment-supporters, .or hose-supporters, ofthat class in whichthe fabric of the hose,.or such other fabric or goodsas are to be held in place'thereby is preliminarily placed or foldedover a post or like member which is then placed and held within aclamping-frame that is adapted to be suspended from or connected to theusual supporting band or strap, in a customary manner.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure1 is a side view of a garment-supporter made in ac cordance with mypresent invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view, drawn below and in alinement with Fig. 1, tofacilitate comparison therewith.

Fig. 3 is an end view as seen from the right-hand in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional side view, drawn below and in alinem'ent withFigs. 1 and2, and showing the clamp retracted, while the post islowered, as when placing or releasing a fabric.

Fig.. 5 is a sectional side view showing a fabric in place, and showingthe mechanism of'the supporter in the closed position illustrated inFigs. 1, 2 and 3.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan view of a preferred form ofv the post member,with'theusual fibrous covering omitted.

Fig. 7 is an end view of said form-of post 5 member as seen from belowin Fig. 6, and Fig. 7 shows the same post member having modifiedproportions, whereby to somewhat reduce the otherwise normal dimensionor height of the fabric-engaging end of the device.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view ofthe right- I hand portionof Fig. 5, butwith the fabric omitted, while Fig. 9 is a similar viewshow ing thefabric clamped in place.

Similar characters designate like parts in allthe views. V.

For connecting the clamp-frame, as B, of the supporter mechanism, to theusual web or carrying strap as S, I have shown a well-lmown form of anordinary slotted" con Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 3, 1919.

Application filed September 17, 1913. Serial No. 790,149.

necting-plate, N, (Figs. l5) having a bar, 2 for the strapS, a pivot-bar3 for-connecting with the frame B, and the middle-bar 4, for carryingone end of the post-strap T.

The memberN, however, may be in practice of any suitable orconvenientform, proportions and arrangement, since it is not an essential part ofmy present improvements. For instance, the rearward end 5 of the frameBmay be bent or formed over the bar 3 in a. well-known manner to form theusual loose or pivotal joint-- s one suitable means for holding andreleasing the' post or fabric-carrier, as P,

whatever may be the specific form or con struction of this member,I haveshown the frame B provided with a preferred form and arrangement of atoggle-action, lever operated, post-clamping device, as follows: Thesaid frame B, having the two side-bars,

as 6, 6 and the end-bar, or clamping abut:

ment,-as 7, has near its rearward end a hinge oint, as 8, (of anywell-known or suitable construction) whereby the lever, or lever- L, 1spivotally supported on the (Fig. 2) this joint 8 is formed as follows:The frame.

plate, as

frame B; in the present instance,

B has a curled portion struck up from said fram which curled portion islocated befrom the lever L, all three curled portions forming a borewith one another to receive. the hinge pin. At its forward end the plateor lever L is preferably turned upwardly to form a lip, as at 9, wherebythe user may engage the finger, 0r thumb-nail under the lever-end foroperating the toggle like clamp able hinge-joint, (which may be similartof the joint 8) as indicated at 10, for pivotally connecting with therearward end of presser-plate or clamp-member, D; in the presentinstance, a strip of metal of the lever L is struck up from between thetwo portions forming the joint Sand this strip is curled up in thevopposite direction tothe other two curled portions and positionedintermediate to the curled portions struck up from the presser plate Dwhichthree curled portions similar to joint 8 form a bore with oneanother to receive the hinge pin,'.the for ward end of which is arrangedto slide along and between the frame bars 6, 6',see Fi 2, 4 and 5. Forthis latter purpose, the fortween two lateral curled portions struck up.

ward end 12 of the clamp or toggle-member D is shown fit-ted forasliding engagement with the side-bars 6, 6 this may be accomplished bymaking proj'ectingguides or gins,

as c, c on the member D, fitted to slide in grooves as f, 7", formed inthe inner sides of the bars 6, 6, respectively.

When the clampingdevice is thus assembled and is in the closed positionFig. 5, the pivot 10 should,-as there shown,lie below the linefrom-pivot 8 to guide 0, so that the lever L on being closed down fromits posi tion in Fig. 4:,will carry said pivot 10 to a sufficiently lowpoint (Fig.5) for securing the desired selflock ing of the parts intheir closed position: Then, by lifting on the point 9 of the lever L,this may be turned back to its position in Fig. 4, thereby firstslightly advancing andnext drawing back the presser D, and thusreleasing any fabric or the like from between the movable clampface 12and the fixed clampface 7.- In these operations the member D, from e'to10, may

be said to constitute one part, or link, of at'oggle-joint or linkagedevice, the other member of which is that part of the lever L whichextends from the pivot; S to the pivot 10; thus the well-known and veryeffective toggle-action is obtained In practice, the compression of thepost-walls r, 7", toward each other furnishes a resistance which by itsreaction operates to push backwardly on the member D, and thus by thespring-power of the post itself holds the members Land D in their saidlocked positions as in Fig. 5.

For limiting the backward stroke and re tracted position ofthe leverL'and the open ing stroke of the clamp-member D,-to about the'positionshown in Figs, and with the thumb-piece 9 in convenient" position foruse in closing the clamp, while preventing undue strain from beingapplied to the guide-bean ings c, e I provide some suitable stop deviceoperating directly between said linkagemembers L and D. Thls'stop devicein the present instance consists of a face on the member D formed by abend at a, (Fig. i) in the member D whereby the members D and L engageas stop faces each for the other, when retracted to the desiredposition, as herein explained. Of course, the stop faces at a, should belocated sufficiently remote from the axis of the joint at 10, to preventundue strain when the lever L is pushed over to its extreme backwardposition, as will now be evident.

One object of my present improvements is to provide effective means forproperly grasping and holding textile goods of va rious thickness andtexture, and to do this notwithstanding a considerable unevenness inthethickness thereof, and the presence of various folds therein.- For thesepurposes, the member P,-over which the goods are directly placed, andwhich is usually desig nated as the post, is herein shown provided witha resilient side portion combined with ahead, as h, which issubstantially rigid a sagainsta strain orpressure applied thereto in adirection longitudinally of the supporter frame B. This organization. ofthe component parts and features of the post P,

illustrated in a preferred form and arrangement, in the enlarged detailviews, Figs. 6, 7 and 7*, in which the said post is shown formed of arelativelyor moderately flexible metal plate, bent into shape and havinga mid-portion h, for the post-head, resilient, indented side-formingportions 7* r, for the side-walls, and-end portions forming base fiangesas 2, t, whereby to connect the post P (see Fig. 4) with thesupporterframe-work by a strap, as T, lacedthrough one or more openingsas m, a? andy, y in the plate. The tape or strap T is shown (Fig; 8)extended or folded over the posthead It for thereby supplying a fibrousor similar cover,as'0, Figs. 4c, Sand 9 for cont'acting with the clothor other fabric,-as F, Figs. 5, 9,-to beheld in the supporter. Thispostcover c is thus a part of the tape or strap T, and is held in placeby the sidecover portions, as 0, a, being extended through the saidopenings 00, a2 and y, y, of the post-plate. (See Figs, 1-, 4t, 5, 8, 9This manner of lacing or looping in the strap or connection T serves tocover and bring within this member T, the outer edges ofbothof thebase-flanges t and t.

In assembling the post-member P, with the frame-work,- as B N ,-by meansof the combined attaching strap and post-head cover T, this strap afterbeing passed around a retaining bar, as at, and then passed through theloops or openings in, and over the head ofthe member P, may then befastened together at a point, as 9 located close to the rearward lowerflange, as t, of said member P, for thereby preventing this memher frombecoming gradually displaced on the strap during the continued use ofthe mechanism, by the resilient action of the side-walls and of theflanges t,',t of the postmember P.

An important feature of the described post-construction and of the modeof mounting the same, is-that the two ends of the post-member. adjacentto the side-'bars fi, 6 respectively (see Figs. 2 and 6) operatein asubstantially or relatively independent manner, so that if a fabric isthickenns by reason of a fold or selvage,'at or near one side of theframe than at the other side thereof,,the side portions r' and r of thepost-plate will beforced nearer together at such location, withoutmaterially reducing the holding power at the other end of thepost-member, which thus becomes self-adjusting as to thecompressiveaction of the of the fabric. This mode of action is in partprovided for by the making of a considerable space, as 2, (Figs. 4L, 7and 8) between the side-walls r and 7", whereby the post-plate is madeto operate as a resistant spring, as already mentioned. In Fig. 9, saidspace a is shown considerably reduced, as indicated at 2, by theclamping action of the member D, which is strongly resisted by suchresilient resistance during the final part of its forward stroke.

Owing to the texture and thickness of such tapes or analogous materialsas are desirable for the cover-portion 0 of the strap T, the use of saidslots arranged in pairs about as illustrated, secures an effectiveretention in proper position of that post-cover, and has the furtheradvantage of making a broad base-portion for the post P, which thusextends forwardly and rearwardly (Figs. 1 and 5) under the clampingfaces of the parts 7 and D, for thereby steadying the post against beingdeflected or tipped out of its proper position by the pull of the fabricF in the direction of the arrow a, Figs. 5 and 9. One advantage of thepair of slots w over a single slot in lieu thereof, is that thecover-strap T is thereby readily brought forward into a fold at 70, overthe extreme forward edge of the flange t, as well indicated in Figs. 8and 9.

The manner of applying and using my improved garment or hose supporter,is similar to the way in which other devices in this general class areemployed, and will now be evident from the drawing and the foregoingdescription. When the post P is released and lowered as in Fig. 4, thefabric is placed over the post in the usual manner and the post thenpushed up into the frame-opening,as in Figs. 5 and 9. The lever L isnext operated to clamp the post with the fabric, as F thereon, betweenthe jaws or faces of the members 7 and D, thereby holding the fabricbetween these faces and the Copies of this patent may be obtained forfive cents each; by addressing the post-cover at c and 0", and springingto gether the compressibly-resilient side walls, 7-, 1", of thepost-plate, as indicated by the narrower distance between these portionsin Fig. 9, as compared with Figs. 6 and 8.

hen any considerable strain is now applied to the fabric F, in thedirection of the arrow a,Figs. 5, 9,the effect is to tend to drawdownwardly the post P, as indicated by the arrow at, (Fig. 9) andthereby directly increase the gripping action upon the fabric on bothsides of thesaid post-member, and so bring the fabric into a positivelygripped condition precluding slipping to any material degree, whileholding it with and under a yieldingly-applied pressure that is equallydistributed over all the contacting areas of the clamping faces.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: 7 i

In a garment supporter of the class described, a frame having apost-receiving opening and having operatively supported thereon apost-clamping device comprising a lever pivotallv connected at one ofits ends to the frame, a presser plate, a portion of said presser platebent downward, a hinge connection connecting said bent portion to themiddle of said lever, said frame having lateral grooves facing oneanother, a pin secured to the other end of said presser plate below itsupper surface and slidably secured in said grooves, the entirearrangement, including the bent portion of said presser plate an thepositioning of said pin, cooperating to dispose the upper surface ofsaid presser plate in alinement with the upper surface of said frame anddisposing the upper surface of said lever presser plate is in clampingposition.

ALBERT T. VAN ALSTYN.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

parallel thereto when said

